For the first time since its inception in 2005, the sustainable cotton
initiative Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) cooperates with more than one
million cotton farmers, 17 percent of whom are women. In 2017, a record sum
of 90 million textiles bore the CmiA quality label. This was announced by
the initiative in a press release on Thursday.

“Africa is close to my heart - both personally and as a businessman, I
feel very connected to our neighbouring continent. When I founded the
Cotton made in Africa initiative back in 2005, I was very aware about the
fact that our future also depends on overcoming the big challenges in
Africa. Here, CmiA offers solutions and a chance to positively touch the
lives of millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa,“ commented CmiA founder
Dr. Michael Otto on the positive development.

In 2017, the number of textiles that bore the CmiA label increased by 79
percent compared to the previous year, reaching a new record high. “We
achieved a record of about 90 million CmiA labelled textiles.
Sustainability is not a niche product anymore”, stressed Tina Stridde,
managing director of the Aid by Trade Foundation. “Every textile that bears
the CmiA label is a step in the right direction. Because every
CmiA-labelled product protects the environment and supports millions of
people in Africa in creating a new perspective for themselves in their home
country”, added Stridde.

For each textile with CmiA label, partner companies pay a license fee
that flows back into the project areas. Thus, instead of collecting
donations, the initiative has chosen a market approach. A total of 36
companies and brands currently order CmiA cotton - among them the Otto
Group, the Rewe Group, Tchibo, Aldi Süd, Jack & Jones, Asos and smaller
fair fashion brands such as Hiitu and Cooekid from Uganda.

The initiative also put together a few general numbers: On average, a
CmiA smallholder farmer has a crop area of just under 1.5 hectares. In
addition to farmers, more than 11,000 factory workers in the African cotton
processing industry are part of the initiative. Around 496,000 metric tons
of ginned cotton from Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon,
Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania and Uganda have been produced according to the
CmiA sustainability criteria in 2017.

The label for sustainable cotton stands for environmental protection and
training in sustainable and modern cotton cultivation. The training enables
smallholder farmers to improve their working and living conditions through
their own efforts. In addition, CmiA certifies the work in the so-termed
ginneries, the first step in the further processing of cotton.